North America

WASHINGTON (AP) — Nearing decision time, senators were struggling to wrap up work on the bipartisan infrastructure plan despite hopes to expedite consideration and voting on the nearly $1 trillion proposal.

The package had appeared on track for eventual Senate passage, a rare accord between Republicans and Democrats joining on a shared priority that also is essential to President Joe Biden’s agenda. But senators hit new problems late Thursday as they worked late into the night on amendments. A procedural vote was set for Saturday.

GREENVILLE, Calif. (AP) — Eva Gorman says the little California mountain town of Greenville was a place of community and strong character, the kind of place where neighbors volunteered to move furniture, colorful baskets of flowers brightened Main Street, and writers, musicians, mechanics and chicken farmers mingled.

Now, it’s ashes.

Washington, Aug 5 (AP-PTI) Apple unveiled plans to scan US iPhones for images of child abuse, drawing applause from child protection groups but raising concern among some security researchers that the system could be misused by governments looking to surveil their citizens.

Washington, Aug 6 (PTI) Amid India's push for UN Security Council reforms, the US has said it supports building a consensus for a "modest" expansion of the Council for both permanent and non-permanent members, provided it does not diminish its effectiveness or its efficacy and does not alter or expand the veto.

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 05 (APP): The United Nations is ‘deeply concerned’ about the safety and protection of tens of thousands of people in Lashkar Gah, capital of Afghanistan’s Helmand province, who could be trapped by fighting between government forces and the Taliban, according to a U.N. spokesman.

Taliban fighters have moved in on three provincial capitals in the last few days and seized territory nationwide since U.S. said it planned a complete withdrawal of troops by September.

NEW YORK, Aug 05 (APP): Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Munir Akram, said on Thursday that a settlement of the Kashmir dispute in accordance with the UN Security Council resolutions was a “pre-requisite” to establish sustainable peace between India and Pakistan, and to avoid another conflict in South Asia.

WASHINGTON, Aug 5 (Reuters) - President Joe Biden on Thursday offered temporary "safe haven" to Hong Kong residents in the United States, allowing what could be thousands of people to extend their stay in the country in response to Beijing's crackdown on democracy in the Chinese territory.

In a signed memo, Biden directed the Department of Homeland Security to implement a "deferral of removal" for up to 18 months for Hong Kong residents currently in the United States, citing "compelling foreign policy reasons".

05 Aug 2021; MEMO: Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Kristalina Georgieva, announced yesterday that Lebanon will receive $860 million from the IMF's Special Drawing Rights (SDR) Fund, to strengthen the country's depleted reserves and also to help meet the many urgent needs of the Lebanese people.

WASHINGTON, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- The claim that House Foreign Affairs Committee of the United States concluded the coronavirus leaked from a Wuhan lab was dismissed in a fact-check report by the U.S. news magazine Newsweek on Tuesday.

The report said that the claim came after the addendum of the origins of COVID-19 report had been released, which was the result of a committee minority staff investigation led by Michael McCaul, a ranking member of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee.

NEW YORK, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- Global COVID-19 cases surpassed 200 million on Wednesday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

The global case count amounted to 200,014,602, with 4,252,873 deaths worldwide, as of 3:21 p.m. local time (1921 GMT), showed the data.

The United States reported 35,292,721 cases and 614,666 deaths, both the highest counts around the world, accounting for nearly 18 percent of the global cases and nearly 15 percent of the global deaths.